How to Use Document Inspector in Excel

Written by

Editorial Team

Reviewed by

Laura Tsitlidze

Last updated on September 20, 2023

This tutorial demonstrates how to use Document Inspector in Excel.

document inspector main

Document Inspector

Excel’s Document Inspector allows you to check documents for sensitive data, like personal information or hidden content. Document Inspector helps you find and remove this sort of information before sharing your file with other people.

Here’s an example of how Document Inspector. Say you have a spreadsheet with hidden rows (here, Rows 3:5).

document inspector initial data

To analyze the file, follow these steps:

  1. In the Ribbon, go to File > Info.

document inspector info

  1. In the Info window, click Check for Issues, and choose Inspect Document.

document inspector inspect

  1. In the Document Inspector window, all analysis categories are checked by default; just press Inspect.

document inspector remove

As you can see, there is an issue with Document Properties and Personal Information. If you want to delete them and protect your workbook before sharing, click Remove All.

document inspector warning

Also, there is a warning for Hidden Rows and Columns (because Rows 3:5 were hidden on this sheet). To resolve, click Remove All.

document inspector result

As a result, your personal information is removed from the file, and all hidden rows are now displayed.

Warning: When resolving issues, Document Inspector usually deletes data to solve problems, and these deletions can’t be undone.

The full list of content included in file inspection is:

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